Kiley and Matt got me a new toy from Crate and Barrel. It's for the kitchen. It's a... garlic press! I've always wanted one! I'm actually really excited about it, if you can't tell. It's one of those items that I'm sure I registered for when we got married, but when faced with whether I really needed a garlic press or a can opener, I probably chose can opener (because what would you do without one?).

My friend Ranya, who is one of the best, best cooks ever, always uses one when she cooks. She even presses fresh garlic and puts it on her salad with oil and vinegar (it's actually really good)! Ever since I've cooked with her (and use like all of her recipes...she really needs to make a recipe blog), I've thought a garlic press would be nice to use. And now I have one!

So I tried it out this Saturday night with some baked ziti I made for some friends. I hate chopping garlic anyway, so it was perfect. I made it with turkey and some lower-fat ingredients (and put the garlic in the tomato sauce), and was a little afraid the lower-fat ingredients would make the dish kind of bland. But it wasn't, it was actually pretty tasty...thanks to my new toy! Maybe I'll post the recipe for the ziti, just so I don't forget it.